“Skywalker”

Before a host of high octane Florida Soundcloud rappers became popular parroting each other, Denzel Curry found a comfortable niche in his own brand of gloomy tongue-twisters. While their whirlwind verses meander without intent, Curry uncorks sidewinding raps that lead directly into darkness.

The gothic world Curry constructs in his new song “Skywalker” is bleak and alarming—filled with images of crucifixion, blood storms, soul-stealers, skin peeling, and parasites. He has long leaned heavily on his ability to pivot quickly through rapid-fire flows that rely on acceleration and jump cuts to maintain force, but these are much steadier and more calculated. Each phrase exerts a grip. There is a strain in his voice that, on its own, transmits tension, as he’s terrorized by his past and present: “The life I live has took a part of me/The only Hell resides in my memories.” On “Skywalker,” Denzel Curry raps like a man possessed by his demons and tormented by traitors.